What’s the ethnicity of Dr Google? SPECIALTY searches

What do the images of online doctors tell us about how doctors are portrayed in the Internet Age? What implications might this have on wider society and the medical profession itself? Hey Google! What’s my ethnicity? This post supports my poster at the 2022 Midlands Racial Equality in Medicine Conference. Twitter @MREMnetwork Learning objectives 1. […]

Astro-pathogens, exo-infections and xeno-medicine (plus a physician’s approach to panspermia)

Maybe a pathogen from outer space will wipe out all intelligent life on Earth. Perhaps it already has. In any case, what sort of virus might it be? Adenovirus (I-don’t-know-virus). Learning objectives 1. Explore the current thinking behind pathogen viability outside Earth 2. Consider the panspermia hypothesis and potential relationship to pandemics 3. Reflect on […]

Google Images, M.D. (Class of 2020)

Has your perception of your profession, your colleagues or yourself changed over the the last year? Time for an unreality check. Learning objectives 1. Image search your job role/specialism 2. See what changes, if any, have occurred since last year 3. Reflect on whether these images are influencing patients and doctors Last year I wrote […]

NHStart

Thank you for downloading NHStart™. Before you start consulting, please read these instructions carefully and follow the correct patient procedures. Keep these instructions safe for future reference. Caution: If you consult your virtual doctor for long periods, take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour or so. NHStart your healthcare journey! Welcome and enter […]

‘The Doctor’ by Fildes. Part 3: the trouble with telemetry

The ‘doctor-patient relationship’ is a problematic term. What exactly is it? Would Fildes iconic image leave the observer with a different taste if instead it portrayed the parents propping up a smartphone next to their poorly child? Learning objectives 1. Review how The Doctor has stood the test of time 2. Consider the impact of […]

Feeling blue… the colours of healthcare

When Eiffel 65 released their Europop classic Blue in 1998, you may have understandably been mistaken in thinking they were reminiscing about living in hospital digs as medical students. But this can’t possibly be the case because hospitals sometimes use other colours. There’s white coats and theatre greens. Ahh… the sterile yet soothing colour palette […]

Medical jousting and the art of uncourtly clinical criticism: A noble name for an ignoble activity

[SIGH/FROWN/ROLLING EYES/SHAKING OF HEAD DISAPPROVINGLY…] “Oh dear, you know your previous doctor should never have allowed things to get this bad. Why weren’t you referred to me sooner? What on earth were they thinking when they prescribed you this medication? They probably didn’t even send you for an x-ray. Did they even go to medical […]

The gatekeeper and the wizard: fan fiction

Wizards aren’t just characters of a mysterious nature sometimes found in Middle-Earth. They are also helpful in depicting the relationship between primary and secondary care doctors. Mathers and Hodkgin wrote such an article in 1989 and there have been a few sequels published since. Although the original paper is nearly 30 years old, it is […]

Playing with patients: game theory and the medical consultation

Medical consultation models focus on the patient’s agenda. But what about what doctor’s ideas, concerns and expectations! Shouldn’t we look at the agenda of all the players involved? Learning objectives 1. Consider the use of game theory as a framework on which to model the doctor-patient encounter 2. Clarifying your own agenda as an influencing […]

Whatsapp Doc? Instant messaging etiquette in medicine

Healthcare professionals and students are increasingly using instant messaging applications (usually Whatsapp) to communicate with each other. Learning objectives 1. Consider how you currently utilise instant messaging applications with your colleagues 2. Reflect on how differences between members of a messaging group could impact on training 3. Devise rules of messaging etiquette Imagine you have […]